Effects of Surgical Correction of Nasal Obstruction on Oxygen Uptake and Ventilation Volume

Tuba Melekoğlu

Status: Completed

Conditions: Nasal Obstruction; Septoplasty Surgeries; Athletic Performance

Treatments: Procedure: Surgical correction of nasal obstruction

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT06957262

TYL-2016-1350

Details and patient eligibility

About

This retrospective study aims to evaluate the effect of surgical correction of nasal obstruction on aerobic performance parameters in male athletes aged 20-32 years. The main questions it aims to answer are:

• Does nasal obstruction surgery impact running economy and ventilation during exercise?
• Does it affect oxygen consumption during submaximal running efforts?

Researchers will retrospectively compare male athletes who underwent nasal obstruction surgery (experimental group) to matched athletes without nasal obstruction (control group) to assess changes in respiratory function and exercise performance.

Participants were assessed by:

• Acoustic rhinometry to measure nasal cavity dimensions.
• The Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scale and Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) to evaluate nasal obstruction symptoms and daytime sleepiness.
• Incremental treadmill exercise tests to collect data on gas exchange, oxygen consumption, ventilation, and running economy before and after the surgical intervention (or across a similar time period for the control group).

Enrollment: 22 patients

Sex: Male

Ages: 18 to 40 years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

For Experimental Group (EG):

• Diagnosed with nasal obstruction due to septal deviation and/or inferior turbinate hypertrophy
• Experiencing nasal breathing difficulties and sleep disturbance
• Deemed eligible for septoplasty and/or inferior turbinoplasty following physical and endoscopic examination
• Voluntarily agreed to participate in the study
• For Control Group (CG):
• No reported nasal obstruction or breathing complications
• Matched with EG participants by age, sport discipline, training level, and VO₂max (with a maximum variation of ±5%)
• Willing to follow a similar training program to their matched EG counterparts between pre- and post-testing periods

Exclusion criteria

• History of nasal surgery
• Presence of cardiopulmonary diseases
• Musculoskeletal disorders affecting physical performance or exercise testing
• Inability or unwillingness to follow the pre- and post-test training schedule
• Any surgical complication that would interfere with post-operative participation in physical testing (note: none occurred in this study)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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22 participants in 2 patient groups

Athletes Undergoing Septoplasty (EG)

Experimental group

Description:

This arm included male athletes diagnosed with nasal obstruction who underwent surgical correction via septoplasty. Participants were evaluated before and approximately 2-3 months after surgery. Assessments included acoustic rhinometry to measure nasal cavity cross-sectional areas and volumes, the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), and the Nasal Obstruction Symptom Evaluation (NOSE) scale. Aerobic performance parameters such as running economy, oxygen consumption, and ventilation volume were measured using an incremental treadmill test and respiratory gas analysis.

Treatment:

Procedure: Surgical correction of nasal obstruction

Control Group

No Intervention group

Description:

Male athletes without nasal obstruction, matched by age and training level with the experimental group. They did not receive any intervention but underwent the same aerobic performance testing protocol at the same time points for comparison.